the epidemic. and i wrote -- mayor lee mentioned it before, but i really want to stress how important it was when we lost $7 million in federal money in prevention and care money. and let me tell you, i remember supervisor campos and i sitting down and looking at each other, what are we going to do? this is a disaster. and we went and spoke with the mayor. mayor lee didn't even blink, and he restored in his budget all of that money. some mayors may have restored half of it and let the board scramble to find cuts or other readjustments to make up for the rest of it and mayor lee did 100% no game. mr. mayor, we are eternally grateful for that. (applause) >> and i think this, what we're doing today, is also incredibly important because for those of us who were there when it

wasn't such a foregone conclusion that we were going to be able to come out of this epidemic and even see the light at the end of the tunnel, there are a lot of young people who weren't there. and who maybe don't understand what it was like and what can happen and maybe don't always take it as seriously as we need to take it in terms of prevention. and when i came out in 1990 as a 20-year old, one of the first things i did, i went out to the bars of my lesbian cousin who was 14 years older and her partner, they said to me, you really need to start out with gay guys. you shouldn't just be hanging out with lesbians. my cousin's partner said to me, you know, i really wanted to bring out some of my gay guy friends tonight, but they're all dead. for me as a 20-year old, that was permanently seared in my memory. you know, i've been careful ever since.

but for a lot of younger guys in particular, didn't necessarily go through that. but this is so incredibly important that we continue to lead the way in terms of prevention and education and research because we can beat this disease and i know we're going to. so, congratulations, everyone. (applause) >> i'm pleased to introduce from district 9 supervisor david campos. (applause) >> thank you very much. i'll be very brief, and this is definitely a great birthday present. you know, i've known scott weaner for many years. we went to law school together, and i think something he said about our youth today is something that is very, very important for us to remember. you know, as youth, you always have the concept of the invincibility of youth and we've all had that. you're a young person, you don't think that anything can happen to you.

but the reality is that for folks who are part of this newer generation, they didn't go through that. and i think it's important for us to underscore the severity of this disease, of this illness, and it's still des mating many communities. and it is especially low-income communities, communities of color, you have gay african-american men, latino men infected on a daily basis. people forget we still have people dying of aids. i had a close friend of mine who recently passed away of aids, michael goldstein, and he was an advocate for hiv prevention for finding a cure for hiv. and you can think of so many michael goldsteins. and dr. colfax and other people mentioned that. their memory lives on. and i think that we owe it to them to continue to recommit ourselves, rededicate ourselves to making sure that we prevent

the spread of this disease, and that we do find a cure for this disease. and i just think about, you know, the possibilities with this building. this could well be the place where we do find a cure for aids. and if it's going to happen anywhere, why wouldn't it happen in san francisco? we have always led the way on so many different things. you know, the city of harvey milk is a city that has always recognized the dignity and humanity of every person and it's in line with that spirit that we are here today. and i do want to thank our mayor because as supervisor weaner noted, when the $7 million of funding was cut, even though we were lucky that for so many years leader pelosi protected that, the mayor did not blink. the mayor wasn't even a question. and that's the beauty of san francisco. that when it comes to these issues, making sure that we take care of our own, that those questions are no-brainers for us. that is the san francisco way. so, i am very excited.

i look forward to seeing the beautiful building, the gay man in me wants to see the design what it looks like inside. [laughter] >> so, let's get this going. thank you very much. (applause) >> thank you. i want to say that this has been a collaborative effort on so many levels. and it's been a collaborative effort in the city as well. i want to next introduce mohammed nuru director of public works who was instrumental in helping us launch this project. (applause) >> thank you. i'll keep it brief. i just want to say thank you to the department of public health for being a great partner with dpw. we've had a good opportunity to be able to renovate many of our health centers. we are building the new hospital and today this very, very great project. the project from dpw, we provided architectural design. we provided engineering and

construction management. and i'd like to thank the team that worked on the project real quick, the project's architect, lamont and banito, please give them a hand. (applause) >> from the engineering james ing and ray louie, give them a hand. (applause) >> and for construction administration jose gordato. (applause) >> and, of course, from the public health side, mark primo from dpw, [speaker not understood] who both led these projects. a little quick note about the project itself, the building is over 100 years old. and while all this work was going on, nobody in the building and all the people who work here, they were not disrutctionved. they were able to continue working. * disrupted and as you heard we are 70%

complete and very, very happy to be here for this grand opening. and as we heard from all the speeches today, it will be a world renowned center and public works is happy to be part of that. thank you very much. (applause) >> so, none of this could have happened without the support of the public health department. we are fortunate to be working under dr. thomas argon who heads up the population public health unit. we are led by barbara garcia who is also the principal investigator of this project and i'm going to turn it to her. clap lap >> okay. as supervisor campos said, he can't wait to get inside. one of the things about this grant, the face of staff is usually a grant with research. it is either study participants or services. but this is a little different one. we were the only health department in the country to receive this. most of this went to

universities. one, we didn't have as big overhead as universities do. two, we have a lot of experience in doing building. and, so, we really had to work at making sure nobody got disrupted. i do believe i have a big thank you to real estate because i think we did give them i understand general election a couple times out there. -- indigestion i want to thank them. i see win of the employees who resigned as a retiree, he was instrumentsal. (applause) >> this took space planning and trying to figure out space and it's all you know in san francisco, space can be a conflicting process. i think this worked really well. mark primo consulting with us on all our capital projects and departments. martin who provided a lot of leadership in this area. [cheering and applauding] >> and now that everybody is clapping, let's do the ribbon

cutting and get inside. [laughter] >> okay. we're going to now do our ribbon cutting and then we're going to invite everybody in to tour the facility to get some hot coffee or tea, warm up, and some snacks. and if we could have the mayor and barbara come up and all of our other esteemed guests.

>> 4, 3, 2, 1. [cheering and applauding]

>> we love our parks, but we love... >> and the community who is really the core of it all, came together and said what we need is a place for our teenager to play, not just play grounds for the kids and soccer fields but we need a skate park that will keep the kids home in the neighborhood so they can play where they live. >> the children in the neighborhood and it will be a major boone. and we have generations, the youth generations that will be able to use this park in different places. >> the best park in san francisco right here.

>> creating place where people can be active and lead, active, healthy life styles that are going to just stay with them for life. ♪ >> welcome to "culturewire." today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly

unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago. our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can

the public has an artist engage with? >> for the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptual artists, at installation, photographers, videographers. >> that has really expanded the program out. it is becoming so dynamic right now with your vision of interesting artists in gauging here. why would an artist when to come here? >> mainly, access to the materials. we also give them a lot of support. when they start, it is an empty studio. they go out to the public area and -- we call it the big store. they go out shopping, take the materials that, and get to work. it is kind of like a reprieve, so they can really focus on their body of work. >> when you are talking about

recology, do you have the only sculpture garden at the top? >> it is based on work that was done many years ago in new york. it is the only kind of structured, artist program. weit is beautiful. a lot of the plants you see were pulled out of the garbage, and we use our compost to transplant them. the pathway is lined with rubble from the earthquake from the freeways we tour about 5000 people a year to our facility, adults and children. we talk about recycling and conservation. they can meet the artists. >> fantastic. let's go meet some of your current artists. here we are with lauren. can you tell us how long have

been here so far and what you're working on? >> we started our residency on june 1, so we came into the studio then and spent most of the first couple weeks just digging around in the trash. i am continuing my body of work, kind of making these hand- embroidered objects from our day-to-day life. >> can you describe some of the things you have been making here? this is amazing. >> i think i started a lot of my work about the qualities of light is in the weight. i have been thinking a lot about things floating through the air. it is also very windy down here. there is a piece of sheet music up there that i have embroidered third. there is a pamphlet about hearing dea -- nearing death. this is a dead rabbit. this is what i am working on now. this is a greeting card that i

found, making it embroidered. it is for a very special friend. >> while we were looking at this, i glanced down and this is amazing, and it is on top of a book, it is ridiculous and amazing. >> i am interested in the serendipity of these still life compositions. when he got to the garbage and to see the arrangement of objects that is completely spontaneous. it is probably one of the least thought of compositions. people are getting rid of this stuff. it holds no real value to them, because they're disposing of it. >> we're here in another recology studio with abel. what attracted you to apply for this special program? >> who would not want to come to the dump? but is the first question. for me, being in a situation that you're not comfortable in has always been the best.

>> what materials were you immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here? >> there are a lot of books. that is one of the thing that hits me the most. books are good for understanding, language, and art in general. also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. >> job mr. some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. -- taught me through some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. >> the first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. it was actually a poster. it was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. in terms of the flatwork, i work with a lot of cloddish. so being able to cut into it come at into it, removed parts,

it is part of the process of negotiating the final form. >> how do you jump from the two dimensional work that you create to the three-dimensional? maybe going back from the 3f to 2d. >> everything is in the process of becoming. things are never said or settled. the sculptures are being made while i am doing the collages, and vice versa. it becomes a part of something else. there's always this figuring out of where things belong or where they could parapets something else. at the end goal is to possibly see one of these collage plans be built out and create a structure that reflects back into the flat work. >> thank you so much for allowing "culturewire" to visit this amazing facility and to learn more about the artists in residence program. is there anything you like our

viewers to know? >> we have art exhibitions every four months, and a win by the public to come out. everybody is welcome to come out. we have food. sometimes we have gains and bands. it is great time. from june to september, we accept applications from bay area artists. we encouraged artists from all mediums to apply. we want as many artists from the bay area out here so they can have the same experience. >> how many artists to do your host here? >> 6 artist a year, and we receive about 108 applications. very competitive. >> but everyone should be encouraged to apply. thank you again for hosting us. >> thank you for including us in "culturewire." ♪

>> san francisco recreation and parks department offers classes for the whole family. rec and parks has a class for everyone. discover what is available now and get ready to get out and play. henri matisse. frida kahlo. andy warhol. discover the next great artist. get out and play and get inspired with toddler classes. experience art where making a mess is part of the process. classes and the size the artistic process rather than the product. children have the freedom to explore materials at their own pace and in their own way.

talks love art, especially when they died into the creative process -- dive into the creative process. at the end of the classes, they have cleaned and washup. of.com great way to get out and play. for more information, visit sfrecpark.org. that out and play and get into the groove. rec and parks offers dance classes for seniors. first-time beginners or lifetime enthusiasts -- all are welcome. enjoy all types of music. latins also, country and

western. it is a great way to exercise while having lots of fun. seniors learn basic moves and practice a variety of routines. improve your posture, balance, and flexibility. it is easy. get up on your feet and step to the beat. senior dance class is from sf rec and park. a great way to get out and play. >> for more information, >> the public wants to access particular information about

your house or neighborhood we point them to gis. gis is a combination of maps and data. not a graphic you see on a screen. you get the traffic for the streets the number of crimes for a police district in a period of time. if the idea of combining the different layerce of information and stacking them on top of each other to present to the public. >> other types of gis are web based mapping systems. like google earth, yahoo maps. microsoft. those are examples of on line mapping systems that can be used to find businesses or get driving directions or check on traffic conditions. all digital maps. >> gis is used in the city of san francisco to better support what departments do.

>> you imagine all the various elements of a city including parcels and the critical infrastructure where the storm drains are. the city access like the traffic lights and fire hydrants. anything you is represent in a geo graphic space with be stored for retrieval and analysis. >> the department of public works they maintain what goes on in the right-of-way, looking to dig up the streets to put in a pipe. with the permit. with mapping you click on the map, click on the street and up will come up the nchgz that will help them make a decision. currently available is sf parcel

the assessor's application. you can go to the assessor's website and bring up a map of san francisco you can search by address and get information about any place in san francisco. you can search by address and find incidents of crime in san francisco in the last 90 days. we have [inaudible] which allows you to click on a map and get nchldz like your supervisor or who your supervisor is. the nearest public facility. and through the sf applications we support from the mayor's office of neighborhood services. you can drill down in the neighborhood and get where the newest hospital or police or fire station. >> we are positive about